Replacing The Carbon In My Filter

[AundieRae]

Hello!
So I have black water, and I don't really like it that much so I have looked up ways to fix it, and one of them is replacing your carbon, which I havent done since I got the tank Bad, I know.
I have a fluval C3 filter, and I bought some active carbon from walmart. But it is loose, and in my filter they are in a little bag.
Can I just put the carbon straight in without a bag? if so, how much?
And how often should I change the carbon if I am trying to get rid of the black water look?
Thank you!

 

[Essjay]

If the carbon bits could get either into the impeller or the tank, put it in a bag. I use a homemade bag made from net fabric whenever I need to use carbon.
Carbon gets full in a few days, and should be replaced weekly.

If the old carbon has been in there a while it will have stopped adsorbing things and you'll have lots of bacteria living on it. Depending just how much carbon is in the filter compared to other types of media, you may find yourself in a mini cycle when you remove it. If there's a lot of carbon, maybe remove half the old carbon at first, then after a few days remove the other half - but in this case use a separate bag for the new. Once you've taken all the old carbon out, changing the new on a weekly basis will be too often to allow many bacteria to grow on it so you won't have this problem again.

Can I ask though - why is your water black? Do you have a lot of wood in there? Unless you have something like wood which turns the water black, you need to find out why the water is that colour and sort out any problem rather than just try to clean it up.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I'd like to see a photo of your tank to see if we can determine what's happening. What are your stats?